


Tripping The Ice Fantastic

by roryheadmav



Category: Thor - All Media Types, Thor Au - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Thorki - Freeform, Thorki Figure Skating Ice Hockey AU, Thorki skating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 19:58:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roryheadmav/pseuds/roryheadmav
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor and Loki are two very good friends with big dreams, only to find life surprising them with an unexpected twist. Reunited twelve years later, will they find at least one of their dreams coming true?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tripping The Ice Fantastic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Florbe91](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Florbe91).



> This story would never have been made if it were not for the folks on the Tumblr thorki tag whose enthusiasm for the Thorki ice hockey/figure skating AU was without bounds. Then, of course, there's Florbe with her lovely skating arts. Not to mention all the gifs and images of Johnny Weir and Michael Kostka.
> 
> Please note that the writer of this story is NOT a hockey player nor a figure skater. I was tempted to watch Weir's videos but instead opted not to in the end and chose to come up with a different choreography based on exhausting research. So, if you are a figure skater, please no criticisms. I'm just letting my imagination run wild here.
> 
> MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope you all enjoy this little holiday prezzie!! 
> 
> PS For New Year, it will be tothetwelve's story "The Lost Son of Ymir". ;)

 

**TRIPPING THE ICE FANTASTIC**

**Copyright December 24, 2013 By Rory**

 

 

Ever since he was a child, Thor Odinson loved the ice. He loved how it would form a thick, solid white sheet on top of the lake behind their little home in Narvik. He loved the lines and curves that he drew upon the ice whenever he skated on it.

 

But most of all, he loved the ice for, on its smooth, almost crystalline surface, he would behold Loki Laufeyson gliding, dancing and pirouetting across it like a demented frost fairy while waving a hockey stick above his head and shrieking at the top of his lungs with the ferocity of a Viking.

 

Loki, on the other hand, loved the ice for a different reason. To him, it was a frozen battlefield on which he would race across at a breakneck pace with the puck zigzagging dizzily before him. Then, he would drive the puck with lightning speed at a nearby tree, its poor bark chipped in spots where the heavy black disk hit its mark.

 

Bloodthirsty thoughts of hockey carnage and World Cup trophies aside though, he loved the ice for its quieter moments, especially when Thor would dreamily skate on top of it, a tall, brawny boy but possessing the grace of his mother Frigga, a much loved Olympian figure skater in Norway.

 

Strange how their lives, through a quirky twist of fate, took drastic turns. For during their twelve year separation, the two best friends and should-have-been lovers ended up pursuing the ice dreams of the other.

 

Thor could not help but grimace at the ironic thought that he was the one sitting on the ice at rinkside in his sweats with a hockey stick in his arms instead of performing Lutzes and Axels like the lone figure he was watching with admiration and a touch of envy. Because of his height and bulk, his father Odin had coerced him into joining hockey clubs and undergoing rigorous training in the hope of his becoming a professional hockey player. While he may have strongly protested at first, he had later come to love the sport, largely because of Loki, understanding just how exhilarating was the surge of adrenalin and power in his pumping legs and in using both his stick and body to keep the members of the opposing team from stealing the puck from him. For his efforts, he brought the Einherjar Stallions and the Norwegian Ice Hockey teams to the very top.  His Gold Medal and the trophies he had accumulated through the years sat in the living room display case, each item polished with obsessive glee by his father on a near weekly basis.

 

Loki too was having a somewhat morbid fascination over the irony that, instead of becoming a ruthless enforcer on the ice, he was the one effortlessly and flawlessly performing Salchows and Butterfly Jumps, moves which his childhood friend once did with grace and ease. Because of his slender frame and what critical coaches thought was his "weak" constitution, he was never permitted to pursue his hockey dreams. The coaches believed that his lanky body was not strong enough to withstand brutal assaults from the rival team. To make the situation even more ironic, it was Thor's mother who convinced him to take up figure skating.

 

"Thor was so heartbroken that his father didn't allow him to study figure skating," Frigga had revealed to him when she came to visit him and his family in faraway Oslo. "He is now training to become a hockey player in your place. Wouldn't you do the same for him and become a figure skater?"

 

And Loki could not deny her, especially since it meant that he would have to fulfill Thor's dream for him. Training under Frigga's mentor Olympic coach Ken Branagh, his was a phenomenal rise through the ranks of the athletes in Norway, which culminated in his winning his first Gold at the Norwegian Skating Championships at age 14. A year later, he won his second Gold at the European Figure Skating Championships. It would take two, three years more before he finally won the Gold in the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, but then again, he was in no hurry. He wanted to hone his talents to perfection. Loki demonstrated his flawless skills when he won the Gold Medals for the Short, Long and Ice Dancing programs in the recently concluded Winter Olympics. It was a touching triumph to be sure, because it was at this same prestigious global competition wherein Thor and the national team won the Gold Medal for ice hockey as well.

 

Because of their respective triumphs in the Winter Olympics, the two men found themselves reunited with each other in the DNB Arena in Stavanger, with Thor and the Stallions having an exhibition match against their fiercest rivals, the Svartalfar Warriors of Sweden, while Loki and the Norwegian ice skating delegation will perform special programs to delight their proud countrymen.

 

At first, their respective training schedules for the Olympic Icecapade Exhibition would not allow the two men to meet. Mornings and early afternoons were reserved for the figure skaters while the hockey players took over the arena for the remainder of the day and all through the night.

 

But this day—the day before the Icecapade—was different. Troubled by problems in the team, Thor had decided to come in early at the arena, only to find Loki—dressed in a shimmering costume of sequined, deep blue velvet with silver chains coiled around his slim upper body—practicing all by his lonesome on the ice. Although elated at seeing the man he loved after so long being apart, he quelled the urge to dash across the ice and hug him and, instead, parked himself at the edge of the rink to watch him practice.

 

Loki had observed Thor's arrival out of the corner of his eye, and was struggling to keep his mind on his routine and ignore him. But Thor watched him through those awestruck, round blue eyes and he could not stop the blush that colored his cheeks.

 

So engrossed was Thor in watching Loki that he did not notice his mischievous teammates, led by Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun, file into the stands behind him. Greatly amused by the dopey, mesmerized expression on their winger-now-turned-center's face, Fandral stood up and lowered his hockey stick, proceeding to alternately thump each side of an incensed Thor's head as if it were a puck.

 

"Is your brain still in there, Thor?" kidded Fandral, grinning broadly. "It sounds pretty empty to me."

 

"Ooooh!" Volstagg couldn't help teasing. "Someone's in looooooove!"

 

"Just shut up and watch, you morons!" Thor hissed back, and resumed his viewing of Loki's laps, although his ears were turning red from the titillated giggles of his teammates. In just a few minutes, he blocked them out of his mind entirely, which only drew more ribald remarks from the Stallions who were already seeing tiny pink hearts flying around the head of their teammate.

 

For his part, Loki saw the funny head thumping his friend got and was on the verge of cackling himself. But when Thor settled back to watch him again, Loki let out a groan. _Don't stare at me like that, you idiot!_

 

The intense perusal from those bright blue eyes was enough to completely disarm Loki. What should have been a very basic Flip Jump found the figure skater's right foot slipping and losing its hold on the ice. As he fell painfully on his butt, the chains of his costume clinking from the impact, he heard shocked "Oooohs!", "Owwws!" and "NUUUUs!" coming from the hockey players. To add to his trepidation, the girls from the synchronized figure skating team had also arrived with bags hanging from their shoulders and they all had their hands pressed over their mouths in shock. Coach Branagh's eyes and mouth were so large and round that he looked like a fish gasping for air.

 

If he were still that hot-tempered figure skater he was before, Loki would have stood up and demanded that they all leave the premises in order to save face. Spills and falls, however, have become part and parcel of his training; he learned from them so he became accustomed to them.

 

The same could not be said for Thor.

 

Waving his hockey stick in the air, Thor leaped to his feet and roared at his teammates, **_"AVERT YOUR EYES, YOU DICKHEADS! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU LAUGH AT LOKI'S FALLING ON HIS HINEY!"_** And, to Loki's chagrin, it was that command which did cause gales of laughter to erupt inside the arena.

 

Unknown to an irate Thor, the figure skater was slowly getting to his feet. To the now silent, gap-mouthed hockey players, it seemed like Loki's entire being was ablaze with a roaring fire.

 

 ** _"LOOK OUT!"_** Hogun suddenly yelled.

 

The team members dropped to the floor. Thor turned just in time to see something gleaming and sharp hurtling straight for his head. Like a Limbo dancer, Thor bent his upper body backward, the skate blade missing his nose by a hair.

 

 ** _"EEP!"_** Fandral squealed, seeing the blade buried deep in the backrest of the seat he had been sitting on.

 

All gasped as Loki kicked his booted right foot—now without its blade—back, the momentum sending him gliding across the distance between him and a now frightened Thor on just his left leg. His right leg was extended straight backward in an Attitude position, but with his arms still pressed firmly to his sides.

 

"Thor Odinson," Loki growled, each syllable of his friend's name dripping with venom, "we haven't seen each other in twelve years and the first thing you do is embarrass me in front of everyone!"

 

"But…but Loki…" Thor stammered. "You used to be so angry when people see you take a spill on the ice. I was trying to spare you from the humiliation."

 

"Well, you have humiliated me now by bellowing it out to the entire arena!" Loki kicked off his unlaced left boot, but not before tearing the blade off from the sole. Waving his finger in a "come hither" gesture, the figure skater murmured with enticing menace, "Come here, Thor."

 

Thor shook his head briskly. "Uh…nope! I don't think so! You might slice me up with that blade!"

 

"Oh, I'm not just going to slice you up! **_I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!_** "

 

 ** _"YIKES!"_** Seeing that his life was in serious jeopardy, Thor clambered over the boards, nearly falling face first on the floor on the opposite side when his foot got caught on the edge. The hockey players swiftly scrambled out of their panicking center's way, more so, when Loki made a smooth side leap over the barrier.

 

As the athletes looked on, a screaming Thor raced up the stairs, with Loki—now brandishing both of his skate blades—following close behind him.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Could you please stop with the crocodile tears? I didn't hit you that hard! The cut on your hairline is even shorter than the length of the antiseptic pad of the Band Aid!"

 

"All I could think about over the past twelve years that we've been apart is that I want to see you, be WITH you. And now that we're together again, the first thing you do is try to kill me. Pardon me for wanting to cry my eyes out."

 

Snorting, Loki slapped the Band Aid flat over the cut, eliciting a whiny "Oww!" from Thor. Plopping down beside his friend on the floor in the hallway where the athlete dressing rooms were located, Loki sighed heavily, "After all this time, now you come to see me."

 

"It's not as if I didn't want to," Thor said defensively. "But Dad wouldn't let me visit you in Oslo. When I finally did get the chance after graduating from High School, you had moved to Canada on a figure skating college scholarship."

 

"I tried to see you too, you know, before I left for Calgary. But you were very busy enrolling in the University of Tromso. At that time, I believe you were also being scouted by the Einherjar Stallions as well."

 

"I didn't know that." Thor smiled sadly. "Even if we were apart, I followed your figure skating career. I have videos of your performances in the various competitions. I was very impressed with how you won the Gold in your first European Championship competition. That combination spin you did to the instrumental portion of Q-Feel's _Dancing in Heaven_ , starting with a Death Drop then segueing into a Camel Spin, moving down to a basic Sit Spin, and then going up again into a dizzying Scratch Spin… How in heaven's name did you manage to sustain that spin? The initial part of the instrumental in the song was eight measures long!"

 

Loki shrugged. "I remembered how you would rant on and on about building momentum for spins and then using swift, but subtle jerks of hips, legs and feet to sustain it. It wasn't easy using the feet because of the toe pick, so I would make small, but forceful outward sweeps of my legs. Coach Ken was actually against my doing it in the Long Program, untested and untried as it was. But I went against his strict orders." A wicked grin. "I don't regret it."

 

"Of course you wouldn't!" Thor snorted. "Because of it, you won the Gold!"

 

"You're not doing badly yourself, Thor." Loki lowered his head and confessed, "Your Mom had kept contact with me, especially after my parents died in a car crash en route to my figure skating competition in Toronto."

 

"Yes, Mom told me about that and I begged that she send you my condolence card and a letter. I wish I could've been there with you."

 

Loki patted his friend's thigh in reassurance. "It's okay, Thor. I did receive your card and letter, and they were such a consolation for me during my time of grief. Your letters, your Mom, my figure skating…they helped me get through a very tough time. Anyway, Frigga has been keeping me informed on your progress in ice hockey. I learned that you led both your High School and College hockey teams to their respective championships and won the Finals every time. When you became a pro, I was able to catch your games on the Internet. Your solid defenses and swift passes helped the Stallions to rise up the ranks of the leading hockey clubs in Norway."

 

"I don't want to take all the credit for our victories. It's largely because I have great teammates that we won. If there's anyone who deserves most of the praise, it would be Malekith Vinter. He's the one who's been scoring the goals for the team."

 

Loki grimaced. "That arrogant son of a bitch? That turncoat who recently switched teams, together with his buddy and lackey, Arngrim 'The Kurse' Swenhaugen? PUHLEEZE! He would never have been able to shoot the puck into the goal if you hadn't positioned him at the right angle with your sneak passes."

 

"Well, I'm glad you think that highly of me, even if it's not true. Coach Tyr is literally tearing his hair out when Mal and Kurse left. Without them, the Stallions are seriously crippled. We won't stand a chance against them in the exhibition game tomorrow."

 

"If you're thinking that, then you're still the fool I always took you for," Loki stated bluntly.

 

"Well, I'm not as good as you!" Thor paused, seeing the figure skater's face tighten. "Uh…I meant…if you had become a hockey player…"

 

"Yes, I know what you're struggling to say. We've both made choices in our lives which ran contrary to our original plans. But I don't necessarily regret making them, considering our respective successes. However, the fact that you and I achieved these successes means we did something RIGHT with our lives, and no one should lay claim to our triumphs since we have worked so damned hard to attain them. Humility is a laudable virtue, but don't let anyone else steal the glory which is rightfully yours." Loki grabbed the hockey player's shirt, pulled him close and looked him straight in the eye. "Malekith has been saying to the sports media that the Stallions' success was primarily due to him. Prove him wrong, Thor. Let them see who really deserves all the praise."

 

Thor swallowed hard at the fierce intensity in Loki's green eyes. "Alright. I'll give it my very best."

 

"Good," Loki said, satisfied, as he released his friend. "That's the only thing I expect from you."

 

With his heart somewhat put at ease by Loki's confidence in him, Thor decided to switch topics. "What about you, Loki? What will you be doing at the exhibition tomorrow?"

 

"Coach Ken made me do the choreography for the girls' synchronized skating number. For the Long Program, I'll be skating to Katy Perry's _Roar_." An indescribable expression crossed Loki's face. "I'll be Pair Skating too. A first for me. Coach thought it would be a great idea that I work with someone else for a change, especially with someone like Jane Foster."

 

Thor literally choked at the name of the American Gold Medalist. As he coughed to clear his throat, Loki helpfully thumped his back. "I thought you'd be happy to learn that your ex-girlfriend is here. Were things really that bad between the two of you as the tabloids made it out to be?"

 

"Believe me, Loki, she was NEVER my girlfriend. Yes, we dated a few times, but it was more of night outs with a friend. I never knew she had such strong feelings for me."

 

"Are you really that witless? When you go out with a girl, she would naturally assume that you're interested in her."

 

"I won't deny that there was some interest on my part at first, but…"

 

"Yes?" Loki asked with a raise of his eyebrows.

 

Thor chewed uncomfortably on his lower lip. "I didn't like the way our…relationship…started to revolve around her."

 

"She does strike me as vain and selfish, although she can't pull her prima donna act on me."

 

"Now that I know for a fact! Your enormous ego is a terrifying force to be reckoned with."

 

**_"I BEG YOUR PARDON!"_ **

 

Thor chuckled at the look of outrage on Loki's face. "Seriously though, if there had been anything between us in the beginning, it would never have prospered because my heart already belongs to someone else long before I even met her."

 

Loki felt two hard thumps in his chest. "Really? Who? Do I know her?"

 

"Oh, you know," the hockey player began cryptically. "This person happened to be the one I was planning to marry right after I graduated from High School." Unnoticed by the figure skater, Thor's hand closed around the tiny box hidden inside his sweats' pocket.

 

"Well then," Loki's smile wavered, a slight trembling in the corners, "I wish you all the best."

 

Seeing the tears limning the other man's eyes, Thor stammered, "No, Loki! It's not what you think—"

 

**_"UNBELIEVABLE!_ ** _All that time, you've just been stringing me along!"_

Both men's heads lifted to behold an angry Jane Foster glowering down at them.

 

"Jane, I never did that," Thor argued. "I told you right from the start that I was in love with someone else, but you just wouldn't let me go."

 

"Oh, so it's my fault now!" Jane rebutted, kicking the hockey player painfully in the thigh. "You're a jerk, Thor!"

 

Loki rolled his eyes. "And you, Ms. Foster, are delusional."

 

**_"EXCUSE ME?!"_ **

 

"A man tells you that he doesn't love you and yet you stick to him like a burr. For an athlete of your stature, you don't have any self-respect. Are you truly that desperate to have a guy at your beck and call even if he doesn't love you? **_PATHETIC!_** "

 

**_"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME THAT WAY!"_ **

****

**_"I DARE BECAUSE YOU'RE AN ANNOYING, LOVESICK FOOL!"_** Loki yelled back as he shot up to his feet.

 

Thor feebly exclaimed, "Loki…Jane…please…"

 

Jane pointed a warning finger at Loki. "You're going to regret this, Laufeyson."

 

"Give it your best shot then." Loki spread out his arms in taunting invitation.

 

Throwing one last sharp glance at the two men, Jane stormed out of the hallway and back to where she had come from.

 

"You shouldn't have done that, Loki. She's the darling of the press."

 

"Hmph! Idiots, the whole lot of 'em if they don't see what a poser and bitch she is!"

 

Thor leaned his head back against the wall. Exhaling, he remarked, "Things were so much simpler when we were kids. Back then, all we thought about was our dreams and how we would turn them into a reality."

 

"And look where real life brought us," Loki said wryly with a helpless flop of his arms.

 

"Just once though, I wish we could go back to those days—with me dancing on the ice while you chased me around like a loon with a hockey stick."

 

"Those days are long gone, Thor."

 

"But, Loki, if you were given that one chance to relive the past, would you take it?"

 

Loki gazed into Thor's blue eyes—so serious, so frank. "I wouldn't just take it," he confessed. "I'd grab hold of it and never let go."

 

As the two men continued to talk about old times, none of them noticed the presence listening to them at the turn to the next corridor. If they had known that someone was there, they would have been seized by dread, especially if they saw the sly, scheming smile on those red, full lips.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

The exhibition game between the Einherjar Stallions and the Svartalfar Warriors turned out exactly as Thor expected it would be. With Malekith and Kurse now in the opposing team acting as enforcers, they were at a serious disadvantage. From the first few minutes of the game, the two men were very aggressive, almost brutal. Kurse would batter his way through the defenders, thus opening a path for Malekith to drive the puck into the net.

 

As Thor observed now, the duo was not averse to resorting to dirty tactics. Before the intermission for the first period was even called, each player in the Stallions was either sporting bruises or ugly shiners, such as the one sustained by Hogun when Kurse "accidentally" clipped him in the eye with the knob of his hockey stick.

 

Many times during lulls in the game, Thor would glance up at the stands to where his parents sat with Loki. His mother Frigga was sitting between the figure skater and his stern father. While Odin would bellow his disapproval, Loki would make furious gestures at Thor, raising a fist or slapping an elbow, clearly saying that he should give tit-for-tat. But Thor would always shake his head. He would not cheat. Whenever this happened, Loki would plop down on his seat and slap his palms on his thighs in exasperation.

 

Loki was beside himself with concern and absolute fury. It was all too obvious to him that Malekith and the Warriors were using both physical and psychological tactics to intimidate the team. And, to his dismay, it was working. Never had he seen Thor so desperate and run ragged as he was now.

 

Noting his distress, Frigga wrapped her arm around his shoulders to calm him down. "Don't worry, Loki. Thor will pull through for the team. You'll see."

 

"How can you stay calm like this, Frigga? It's obvious that the Warriors are cheating and Thor's not doing anything!" Odin growled in frustration. "You know what your son's problem is? He's far too honest, something he got from you. Always being the nice guy, playing by the rules!"

 

"So you would have my son be like those two bullies, is that it? Absolutely not!" At that exact moment, Kurse lunged at Thor and sent him crashing face first into the boards. Frigga leaped to her feet then and yelled at the top of her lungs, **_"KICK THAT MOTHERFUCKER IN THE BALLS, THOR!"_**

 

On Loki's left side, Coach Ken blanched at that uncharacteristic display of maternal rage from the prim and proper figure skater he had known over the years. To his even greater shock, the little girls from the synchronized skating team also started chanting with bloodthirsty glee, **_"KICK HIS BALLS! KICK HIS BALLS! KICK HIS BALLS!"_**

 

"Ladies, show some decorum!" The figure skating coach chided them all.

 

But Frigga would not be silenced. Wagging an angry finger at the bald referee, **_"HEY, CUEBALL! ARE YOU BLIND? THAT'S A FUCKING PENALTY! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO DO YOUR DAMNED JOB?"_**

****

**_"SHUT UP, LADY!"_** the ref shouted back.

 

Frigga's reply was to flip him an emphatic double bird.

 

Because the referee was distracted, no one noticed Malekith's surreptitious approach toward a bent, dazed Thor…except for Loki.

 

 ** _"THOR!"_** Loki cried out in warning, but it was too late. The fiendish hockey player had lifted his elbow, driving it into Thor's face. There was blood as Thor's nose was cracked and he fell to the ice.

 

"Oh dear!" Frigga gasped, pressing her hand to her chest. "He's not dead, is he?"

 

"No one dies from a cracked nose, woman," Odin retorted.

 

Coach Ken threw Thor's father a baleful glare as he watched Thor being assisted from the ice by two of his teammates. "Your concern for your son's welfare just warms my heart," he remarked in sarcasm.

 

"I'll go check on him," Loki assured Frigga as he stood up and hurried to the locker rooms.

 

The figure skater never saw the meaningful smile on Frigga's face and how she had turned conspiratorially to a confused Coach Ken, who was wondering what devilish scheme was going through his colleague's mind. In answer to his question, Frigga whispered in his ear.

 

The Coach's eyebrows went up. "Why do you need a large pair of Men's Figure Skates?"

 

As soon as Loki arrived, he was about to barge into the room allotted for the Stallions, only to pause at the doorway when he heard Volstagg's strained voice within. Frowning, he pressed his ear to the door to listen.

 

"It's hopeless, Coach!" Volstagg exclaimed inside, holding an ice pack over the violet bruise on his cheek. "We can't win like this!"

 

Coach Tyr shook his head. "I've always known Mal and Kurse had mean streaks to them. That's why they left the team to begin with. I tried to talk them out of playing dirty, but they said if they can't play the way they want, they'll leave the team, and that's exactly what they did."

 

"Well, we can't give in to the urge to lower ourselves to their level," Thor stated firmly, albeit a bit nasally as their team doctor had wadded up cotton balls inside his nostrils and was bandaging thick pads to the bridge of his nose. "I want to win this, but not through cheating."

 

"But what are we going to do?" Hogun asked in despair. "They'll kill us out there."

 

"I agree with Thor," Fandral declared, blinking at them through his right eye since his left was swollen shut. "We have to win this fair and square."

 

Coach Tyr rifled through his playbook. "There are still a couple of plays we haven't tried yet." He turned to their new recruit Balder Mannes. "Balder, I want you to get ready. I might have to put you in the game."

 

"Do you have to?" Balder whined, fearful at the prospect of being mauled to death.

 

"You heard what I said. Now go. Take a leak. Do warm ups. Just do whatever it is you need to do to get ready."

 

Balder felt like he was about to meet a firing squad as he trudged out of the locker room. Thankfully though, the reluctant recruit was put out of his misery by a well-placed whack on the top of his head with a fire extinguisher.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was the last seven minutes in the third and final period. The game came to a halt after Fandral was knocked out cold on the ice by an extremely aggressive play by Kurse which saw the Warriors scoring their eighth goal against the Stallions five.

 

As Fandral was carried off the rink on a stretcher, a very desperate Coach Tyr looked at the rather pathetic reserves that he had, none of whom had the power or the guts to go against the combined might of Malekith and Kurse.

 

In the end, Tyr pointed to the biggest reserve he's got, Thialfi Underdahl, who looked like he was about to faint when the Coach's eyes fell upon him. "Underdahl, you get on the ice right now!"

 

There was a harsh, exasperated exhalation. Before Thialfi could get fully to his feet, Balder stood up and shoved him back down in his seat.

 

"Mannes, what do you think you're doing?" the Coach demanded. "And why are you wearing a cage and shield?"

 

Balder did not reply. Instead, he grabbed a hockey stick, shoved past a blustering Tyr, and skated onto the ice.

 

Thor, who was getting into position for the faceoff with Malekith, was too focused on his opponent to see the substitution made.

 

Seeing the tension in Thor's face, Malekith sneered, "Losing your nerve, Odinson?"

 

"I will do everything I can to stop you, but not by cheating," Thor retorted firmly. "If we should lose to you, then it would be with our dignity still intact."

 

Both men watched as the official made ready to drop the puck. "Then lose with dignity!" Malekith crowed. As the puck fell, he swiveled his stick to the side, practically swiping away the head of Thor's stick, and swept the black rubber disk between his legs toward his teammate waiting behind him.

 

But then, a swift figure darted in between Malekith and the other Warrior and deftly caught the puck. Thor was shocked to see Balder racing for the goal, not even bothering to wait for the other Stallions.

 

 ** _"KURSE, STOP HIM!"_** Malekith roared at the hulking defenseman standing before the goalie.

 

Thor and the others quickly hurried after Balder, seeing Kurse charging toward the smaller hockey player, bending low with the clear intent to bring him down with an upward butt of his shoulder. Kurse, however, never got the chance to even touch the Stallion.

 

As Thor looked on in amazement, Balder swiped the puck in a curving arch around Kurse's squatting form. He then vaulted gracefully over the defenseman with hockey stick held in both hands, using the momentum of a shocked Kurse's rising body to propel him a good distance away and toward the skittering puck. Before the goalkeeper knew what was happening, Balder shot the puck into the net.

 

The Stallions cheered at this unexpected turn of events, all except for Thor who stared, blinking, at the reserve player who was heading toward him.

 

 ** _"Look sharp, you morons!"_** Balder commanded in a stern voice which was definitely not his. **_"The game's not over yet!"_**

 

Thor could not believe his ears. **_"LOKI?!"_** he gasped out.

 

Through the cage of Balder's helmet, Loki's emerald eyes glittered with firm intent and mischief. "Shut up, Thor! Don't give me away!" He then gave his best friend a wicked grin. "Now…let's you and I win this thing!"

 

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Thor exclaimed, taking his place at Loki's side.

 

In the next swift seconds, Thor and Loki demonstrated exceptional combination passes, making sure to sweep the puck to each other or to any member of the team who was free from defenders. For the seventh goal, it was Thor who made it, thanks to Loki who prevented Malekith from driving the center into the boards by doing a Twizzle with the stick held in a horizontal position before him but with the curved end jutting forward. Malekith got caught on the stick as Loki turned, so that he was sent skidding away from Thor, leaving the center unimpeded to make the shot.

 

Everyone was ecstatic in the stands, particularly Frigga who was delighted to see how well her psychological ploy worked on the figure skater. Thrusting a snooty nose at Odin, she crowed, "What can you say about figure skaters now, you old fart!"

 

Odin blinked at her through his one good eye. "What in heaven's name are you talking about, woman?"

 

Coach Ken had heard Frigga's remark. Seized by sudden dread, he grabbed the binoculars from the man in the seat in front of him, the strap getting caught around the poor guy's neck so that it was choking him. Quickly, he focused on Balder who was skating small circles on the ice but was keeping his sharp eyes straight on Malekith and Kurse. The Coach focused specifically on the hockey player's feet, only to be shocked to find that he was not wearing standard hockey blades. Instead, what he was wearing was a pair of Reidell Gold Elite Royal figure skating boots with parabolic blades.

 

 ** _"NOOOOOO!"_** Coach Ken screamed in absolute terror as Loki directly charged at Malekith and Kurse with the puck zipping before him. To everyone's shock, instead of defending the disguised figure skater, Thor skated along the edge of the rink and went around the opponent's net.

 

As Kurse and Malekith barreled toward the seemingly desperate player, none of them noticed how Loki was slowly building up momentum. They lunged toward Loki, no longer hiding their intention to tackle him to the ice.

 

Everyone in the stands gasped in awe and shock when Loki leaped over their bent bodies in a flawless Death Drop. Without missing a beat, he landed in a spin on the ice behind them, regained control of the puck, passed it over to Thor, who then drove it into the goal.

 

 ** _"YEAAAAAHHHHHH!"_** Frigga shrieked, overjoyed while shaking poor Odin like a ragdoll.

 

The same could not be said for Coach Ken. The girls from the synchronized skating team were fanning with their foam fingers their poor coach, who had fainted when Loki made that death-defying figure skating leap.

 

The Stallions and the Warriors were now tied with only a minute to spare!

 

Loki, however, would not relent until they have won the game. **_"THOR!"_** he yelled to the center as he swiped the puck from a shocked Malekith.

 

 ** _"RIGHT WITH YOU!"_** Thor said, grinning, even though his nose was as swollen as a tomato.

 

The two men skated toward the Warriors' goal very close side by side, passing the puck to and fro between them. The other Stallions tried their best to keep the other Warriors' away from the two men. But Kurse and Malekith would not be stopped.

 

It was just as they were near the goal that Thor made a quick left sweep of his hockey blade toward Loki. Thinking that Loki had the puck, Malekith and Kurse threw their bodies at him. Although the figure skater swerved out of their way, he was still caught off balance when Kurse grabbed his shirt. The three men fell to the ice.

 

Both Warriors blinked at Loki who was smirking evilly through the metal bars of his helmet. **_"Take that, you fucks!"_**

 

They lifted their heads in horror to see Thor swing his hockey stick in a mocking slow motion, the blade bearing down upon the puck at his feet. The two friends had pulled a deke! Then, Thor struck the puck, sending it flying above the head of the goalie. The hard rubber disk hit the crossbar and ricocheted straight into the Warriors' goal.

 

At once, the arena was literally drowning in the screams and cheers of everyone in the stands. Because of the noise, not even the officials could hear Malekith's complaints that the Stallions illegally substituted one of their members with a figure skater.

 

The two friends simply smiled and accepted the hearty pats that the other Stallions gave them. Coach Tyr was about to give Loki a piece of his mind, but he was stopped by members of the sports press for interviews.

 

"I told you you could do it," Loki said, grinning in firm confidence.

 

"I couldn't have done it without you," Thor remarked, an equally broad smile on his face. "Damn! You haven't lost your touch!"

 

Loki burst into laughter. "The ice is in my blood!"

 

"It's in both our blood!" crowed Thor.

 

They then exchanged high fives as they headed straight for the locker rooms.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Following their unexpected victory against the Svartalfar Warriors, the Stallions were having an impromptu party in the locker rooms. But Thor was in a hurry to catch Loki's Long Program. Because the locker room was practically flooded with champagne and beer, Thor had to re-don his hockey uniform lest his what-he-hoped was a classy attire of a white silk shirt and dark blue vest with a red lightning bolt over the left breast and sleek black trousers would not get splattered. He even checked his nose several times in the mirror, and to this relief, it was not as swollen as it was earlier, although it still made him look like Santa's famous reindeer, Rudolph.

 

"Psst! Sweetie, come here!"

 

Thor bristled at that baby name. He slowly turned to find his mother's impish face peeking at him through the crack of the doorway and wagging her hand at him insistently. To his chagrin, his teammates somehow managed to hear him being called that pet name and started teasing him with lustful cries of **_"SWEEEETIEEEEEEE!"_**

 

Hogun, who loses his steely façade when inebriated, even declared, **_"DOESH LOKI CALL YOU SHWEETIEE TOOO?"_**

 

**_"SHUT UP, YOU MORONS!"_ **

 

With a roll of her eyes, Frigga reached in and snagged her only son by his hockey uniform and pulled him out into the hallway. Before Thor could demand what she wanted, Frigga thrust a big black box into his hand.

 

"It's my present to you, after I overheard that…" His mother shrugged. "Let's just say that I'm pretty sure you might be needing these later. There's certainly nothing like a woman scorned, after all."

 

Without saying another word, Frigga ambled off. Perplexed, Thor opened the lid, his eyebrows going up seeing what was inside.

 

Sitting on its nest of crumpled tissue paper was a brand new pair of Jackson Ultima-DJ2192 Freestyle Men's Figure Skates.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Thor sidled into his rinkside seat just in time to catch the kids' synchronized skating number. For a first-time choreographer, Loki certainly acquitted himself very well. Rather than let the girls perform complicated moves on the ice, he instead concentrated more on letting them form beautiful, tight patterns. They would skate gracefully across the ice like snow fairies in their cute pink tutus, turning forward and back, sometimes hand in hand or arm in arm in rows. A single Toe Loop, and they would release each other so that they were now paired up, facing each other and turning around and around. At one point, two lines were formed and the third line of skaters scooted under the linked arms and hands of their companions in a Shoot-the-Duck position. When they emerged on the other side, they then took the hands of the kids in the second line and tugged them along, weaving in between each other until they formed a giant spiral turning inward and then outward, with each skater performing a Flying Camel. The conclusion of the number had the kids forming a snowflake pattern on the ice while performing basic one-foot spins. As the final note of the song drew the number to its close, the girls waved their hands in the air above their heads, sprinkling colorful glitters.

 

Everyone gave the kids hearty claps and cheers. Thor even went so far as to send exuberant wolf whistles their way, which prompted the girls to bow to him and giggle with pink blushes on their cheeks, before making their disciplined exit by skating one by one backstage with their hands clasped cutely behind their backs.

 

As soon as the kids left the rink, it was Loki's turn to take to the center rink. Thor's heart gave a lurch, seeing Loki dressed completely in black with green and gold trimmings and straps crisscrossing the front. There were vambraces on his forearms and pads on his shoulders, made out of gold and silver. His upper coat was buttoned at the waist, the ends trailing down into four tails.

 

Loki looked absolutely gorgeous so that Thor ended up making a dreamy sigh!

 

Unfortunately, his undisguised admiration for his best friend was ruined by drunken cheers behind him. Whirling, Thor gaped in horror at his teammates occupying the entire row behind him, their faces as red as cherries. In the row at the back of the hockey team, Odin was beside himself with embarrassment at the antics of the Stallions, sinking low into his seat. Even Coach Ken was just as mortified. Frigga, sitting prim and proper between them, was clapping demurely.

 

But when the Stallions began a hooting chant of **_"LOKI! HOOOO! LOKI! HOOOO!"_** accompanied by hockey sticks being pounded on the floor—with the high pitched voices of the synchronized skating team added for good, deafening measure—Thor knew that big trouble was ahead, especially when he saw how Loki's sweet smile vanished and was replaced with a most foul grimace.

 

With arms stretched straight down at his sides and fists clenched, Loki stormed over to them like a raging blizzard. Snatching the hockey stick out of Volstagg's hand, he leaned over the boards and gave the hockey players within reach hard whacks on their helmets. Thor, thankfully, had the presence of mind to duck low and cover the top of his head with his arms before he got rapped too.

 

 ** _"IDIOTS!"_** Loki hissed in their faces. **_"YOU DON'T CHEER FIGURE SKATERS LIKE HOCKEY HOOLIGANS! SHOW SOME DECORUM, WILL YOU?"_**

 

Of course, it didn't help any that Frigga herself jumped to her feet and started pumping her arms wildly in the air. **_"GIVE 'EM HELL, LOKI! HOO HOO HOO!"_**

 

The sharp slap of Loki's facepalm was drowned out by the laughter of the audience. Thor pressed his palms together in supplication and mouthed, "I'm sorry!"

 

Heaving a sigh of defeat, Loki raised his right hand and snapped his fingers, a signal to start the music. He ambled back to center rink with Volstagg's hockey stick in hand, his feet gliding smoothly on the ice in time with the opening strains of Katy Perry's _Roar_.

 

As Katy sang the first three lines of the first stanza, Loki laid the stick on his shoulders and at the back of his neck, his hands draped over the length. He then danced some snappy hip hop moves, skipping and kicking each foot front and back. Thor could not help but blink seeing how Loki perfectly balanced himself on the toe pick while dancing, not once letting the full blade rest on the ice. On the next three lines, he skated backward, sinuously moving his hips like a snake or a belly dancer, twirling the hockey stick before him with both hands.

 

In the second stanza, Loki turned on his toe and skated forward. At the part wherein Katy's backup singers cried "HEY!", he propped the hockey stick on the ground and did a perfect arching Split Leap, segueing into cat-like Twizzles and resumed twirling the stick with the expertise of a drum major. On the second "HEY!", Loki flipped backward into the air, landing on the ice on both feet. As the hockey players let out encouraging hoots and cheers, Loki laid the stick on his shoulder like a rifle and gave them all a smart salute.

 

Then, Loki made a single pass along the edges of the rink, tossing the hockey stick at Thor, who caught it easily at mid-length, as he swept past the stands where the hockey team was seated. With nothing to impede his movements now, Loki quickened his pace, his long legs crossing one over the other with each gliding sidestep. Thor knew that the figure skater was building up for a jump.

 

As Katy began her rousing chorus with "I've got the eye of a tiger," Loki shifted to skating backward, his body slightly tilted to the back outside edge of the blade of his left foot. A quick counterrotation, and Loki thumped his toe pick down hard on the ice and vaulted into the air in a Lutz Jump. Thor watched, mesmerized, as the figure skater spun in the air—1…2…3 rotations before landing backward on the right outside edge of the blade of his right foot. Sweeping his left leg backward, he opened his arms as if saying **_"I DID IT!"_** , a bright mischievous smile on his handsome face, causing cheers and claps to resound from the crowd.

 

But he wasn't done. At the line, "You're gonna hear me roar," Loki swept his body low like a stretching cat before leaping in a tight leg wrap. As he descended, spinning like a top, he kicked his right leg up behind him, arching his body backward, his fingers holding his skate's blade in a Layback Spin with Catchfoot position.

 

Loki's Long Program progressed, devoid of any errors as far as Thor's critical eye can see. In fact, it felt like he was transported into a magical ice realm, where only he and the figure skater were the sole inhabitants, with Loki his beautiful frost fairy dancing and pirouetting for his pleasure alone.

 

Enrapt as he was, Thor was virtually unaware that Loki's heartwarming performance was touching his audience in other ways. To the delighted hockey players, he was an exuberant entertainer inviting them to dance with him. Indeed, Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg and the other players had jumped on top of the boards, hip hopping and Twerking their booties along. Coach Ken and the synchronized skating team were all standing and dancing on their seats. Frigga remained seated, but she was laughing and clapping in solid approval. Even Odin was smiling, his head bobbing to the music.

 

At the instrumental intro to the song's bridge, Loki dipped his whole body into a Death Drop before squatting into a Sit Spin and rising to a dizzying Scratch Spin. While Katy sang "Roar, roar" in a crescendo, again, Loki did his rink pass, same as what he did when he performed the Triple Lutz. Thor waited with bated breath to see what he was going to do. Unlike with the Lutz, Loki continued to skate forward on left outside edge. Then, he sprang up into the air; Thor rose from his seat at the same time, his eyes unblinking as he counted the revolutions.

 

One rotation…2…3…4…followed by a perfect landing on the right outside edge of his right foot's blade. A Quadruple Axel!!

 

The din that filled the arena was deafening, practically drowning out the song that Loki continued to skate to. But Loki's mind and heart played that rousing tune on inside his mind even if he could barely hear it, so that each step, each sweep of his arms matched every note, every beat.

 

As the final touch to his stellar performance, Loki dazzled everyone with a jaw-dropping Biellmann Spin, his right leg stretching back and up high, the blade almost touching his head. Arching his back backward, Loki gripped the blade of the skate with both hands, forming the perfect teardrop shape required for the Biellmann. At the last line, Loki released his leg. One last rotation and he kicked his leg up sideways in a Y position.

 

Starting from the bridge right to the very end of the song, the audience had remained standing, cheering and clapping with such joy and exuberance that it seemed the entire arena would collapse from the noise they were making. The Stallions especially were hooting and pounding their hockey sticks, drawing concerns that the bleachers might collapse beneath them.

 

Loki's eyes, however, were focused on Thor alone who stood stock still with tears falling down his cheeks. At first, the figure skater feared that his friend found a flaw in his performance, that he was disappointed.

 

But then, Thor opened his mouth, his lips speaking though no sound could be heard. The three little words he spoke, however, were unmistakable.

 

With a quick wave and a bow, Loki skated backstage. He did not stop running until he was inside his dressing room. Breathless, he slowly slid down to the floor as laughter bubbled up his throat and tears too filled his eyes.

 

Loki pressed his hand over his heart and whispered, "He loves me! Dear God! **_THOR LOVES ME!_** "

 

Happy and thrilled as he was at this revelation, Loki never knew that someone had heard his soft cries in the hallway outside. If it were at all possible, he would have heard the crack of a heart completely breaking, the pieces sinking into the mire of deep, dark jealousy.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

There were other performances in the Icecapade, but Thor's mind remained solely focused on Loki. He had cursed his mouth for saying "I love you", but he was overwhelmed by the surge of emotions inside his heart. And what Loki did was to run away.

 

Thor felt the ring inside his right vest pocket. No, he must not lose hope. Once the figure skating exhibition was over, he swore that he will confess his whole heart out to his dearest friend.

 

Loki's last number was the Pair Skating Program. This meant that Thor would first have to endure the performance of the one person he never wanted to see again.

 

As Jane Foster took to the ice, Thor knew instantly that something was wrong. Behind her charming, dazzling smile, her hazel eyes were as sharp and as cold as steel.

 

Indeed, Jane performed her Long Program with the same flawless technique and limber grace as her male counterpart. But, while Loki's performance was full of playfulness, teasing and mischief, Jane's seethed with an undercurrent of tension and undisguised fury which just cut through the soul.

 

When the figure skater glided past them in an Attitude position, Thor heard Volstagg remark, "Did you see that look in her eyes? It's like a death ray!"

 

"Nope, more like a freezing beam," Fandral countered with a shudder. "My boner has been frozen into a popsicle."

 

Thor, who was actually the recipient of that frigid glare, felt like his testicles had shriveled up into frozen, wrinkled prunes inside their sacs.

 

When Jane's performance ended, she too was given a standing ovation. But Thor could see that it was more of an act of respect than of true admiration. Some were frowning and shaking their heads, confused on what to make of her demeanor. Only Frigga and Coach Ken remained sitting in their chairs, their stiff posture indicative that they were very displeased with her haughty attitude.

 

Then, Loki skated toward her, bearing a large bouquet of flowers in his arms. Based on what he had learned from Coach Ken and his mother about the Icecapade, Jane would accept the flowers and Loki would lead her into the final Pair Skating number.

 

True enough, Jane accepted the bouquet, even curtseying to her partner. For awhile, Thor thought that he should not think ill and suspiciously of her, that nothing bad would happen…

 

…Until Jane dropped the bouquet at Loki's feet. Loki was too flabbergasted at her disrespect and audacity to react. All he could do was glance down at the flowers, the dumbfounded expression on his face indicating that his mind could not yet take in what the lady figure skater had done.

 

The message was driven deeply home, though, when Jane kicked the bouquet at Loki's shins, sending flower petals flying, eliciting outraged gasps from the people in the stands.

 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Loki hissed at her, his green eyes flashing with contained rage.

 

"I did tell you that you'll regret insulting me, Laufeyson," Jane muttered back with smug satisfaction. "Good luck with the final number! The spotlight is all yours."

 

She was about to flounce off, but Loki grabbed her arm. "You can't do this, Foster! Are you really that stupid to throw away professionalism for a mere insult?"

 

"No, not just a mere insult! All this time, it was you and Thor! The two of you made fools out of me!"

 

"I was NEVER in a relationship with Thor when you two were dating! And don't you put the blame on me! He left you in the first place because you're a nagging, self-righteous bitch!"

 

The whole arena reverberated with the sound of Jane's fierce slap. Loki was speechless at what she had done; his hand covered his red left cheek which was stinging from the blow.

 

"Yes, I AM a bitch! Being the bitch that I am, let's see you finish this show without me!"

 

The figure skater headed off to the nearest exit, only to stop at Thor's loud, clear voice.

 

 ** _"He won't have to, Jane!"_** Thor declared as he leaped over the boards and landed on the ice. On his feet were the Jackson Ultima figure skates that Frigga had given him. Turning to his fellow hockey player, he commanded, **_"HOGUN, MUSIC!"_**

 

Hogun, who had taken over the sound booth, gave him two thumbs up and began playing the Dundy Edit of Lady Gaga's _Edge of Glory_. At the lilting measures of the instrumental intro, Thor pulled his hockey shirt up and over his head, tossing it into an expecting Volstagg's hands. He tugged his shirt and vest down, smoothing out the wrinkles and creases, before slicking back his long blond hair with his fingers.

 

Then, Lady Gaga sang the lines of the first stanza. Jane's jaw dropped as Thor's approach to Loki was a series of Twizzles punctuated by sinuous movements of his hips. With a single toe spin, he slid down to his right knee before Loki, both hands lifted palms up in longing to his astonished best friend.

 

Disgusted by this blatant display of affection and feeling the burn of humiliation on her cheeks at the crowd's jeers at her and their roaring approval of Thor and Loki, Jane all but ran back to the locker rooms.

 

Loki, at first, could not move. Was he dreaming? Was Thor really kneeling at his feet, his entire posture an open declaration of love?

 

When Thor gave him an expectant wink though, Loki's green eyes narrowed and a wicked smile curled up the corners of his lips. _I've been waiting for you for twelve years. I'm not going to make it **that** easy for you!_

 

With a snobby tilt of his head, Loki sidestepped away before Thor could reach for his hands. As the song's beat pounded over the arena speakers, Loki glided over the ice with Thor in hot pursuit. Every time the hockey player tried to take his hand or wrap an arm around his waist, the figure skater would make a quick evasive turn or duck out of the way.

 

It was while he was performing a unique counterturn variation of his own invention that Thor finally caught him. On the first lobe of the maneuver, Loki lowered his body to the ice in a Hydroblading move, pivoting on his bent arm propped on the ice. His right knee was bent while his left leg was extended, the long limb keeping Thor away as he executed three turns. As he stood up to go through the second lobe of the turn, Thor tried to grab him. Loki bent his whole upper body and thighs backwards—legs spread and bent at the knees—so that most of his frame was parallel to the ice. The Cantilever was a risky position, requiring back and knee strength in order to maneuver himself again to an upright position. Loki knew that he had made a mistake, especially when he saw a grinning Thor looming above him.

 

Chuckling, Thor reached down and scooped Loki in his arms, sending the figure skater's lithe body arching over his back, so that Loki was standing in front of Thor, his back pressed hard against the hockey player's muscular torso. Thor was pressing Loki's fingers down at his belly with his right hand, trapping him fully.

 

Loki tilted his head back, his breath catching in his throat at that warm smile and the loving twinkle in those bright blue eyes. Smiling back reassuringly, the figure skater twisted away, but not releasing Thor's hand, so that they were skating side by side with arms extended sideways. Together, they glided over to the far end of the rink, picking up speed for that much needed momentum.

 

When Lady Gaga belted out "I'm on the edge of glory", Loki released Thor then, both men vaulting through the air in well-synchronized Flip Jumps, also landing simultaneously on either side of each other in a Flying Camel position. Then they skated to the opposite ends of the rink and turned back, executing Russian Splits when they reached the center.

 

Fandral could not help teasing their team center, **_"Owww! That hurt! Hymen broke, Thor?"_** , clutching his crotch at the same time.

 

Thor scowled at him as he passed by, mouthing **_"Asshole!"_** back at him, eliciting gales of laughter from both Loki and the other Stallions.

 

In the part of the chorus where Lady Gaga repeated the words "the edge" seven times, the two men pirouetted in outward circular formations on their respective halves of the rink. Meeting at the center, they skated opposite and facing each other in two straight lines. As they neared the boards, Loki was going to turn to the side away from Thor. But as the chorus ended the hockey player seized his hand and pulled him close, lifting him up by his waist. Laughing, Loki threw his arms up and arched his back, letting Thor spin him around and around.

 

Thor and Loki's impromptu Pair Skating Program proved to be an unusual, but delightful treat in more ways than one. For one, male-and-male pair skating was extremely rare, prohibited as it was in actual sports competition and with only a few occasions occurring in acrobatic skating outside the competitive arena. There was also the matter that there was such a warm chemistry between the hockey player and the figure skater.

 

Suffice to say, there were a number of moments wherein Thor and Loki had the audience, especially the ladies, tittering in the seats. Whenever the duo were skating arm in arm, Thor would suddenly sweep Loki off his feet in a sudden spin. The first time he did it, Loki was so surprised and was nearly caught off balance that he instinctively wrapped his long legs around Thor's waist, a move which got the girls in the synchronized skating team shrieking at the top of their lungs. The third time that Thor tried to do it, Loki gracefully twisted his body, his legs forming a split as he rolled on top of the hockey player's back, before settling in position in front of Thor, their hands laced together just above Loki's crotch with the figure skater's right knee bent and his left leg extended to the side, his head pressed against Thor's left breast.

 

At one point, the pair was doing face-to-face parallel spread eagles. Loki's green eyes grew round in alarm as Thor slowly tilted forward, clearly attempting to plant a kiss upon his lips. To evade the kiss, Loki leaned backward, only to realize that he was tilted at a precarious angle and was sure to fall on the ice. Even if he were to straighten up, **_he_** would end up kissing Thor.

 

In the stands, Thor's parents watched, wide-eyed, as Thor naughtily tried to steal his first kiss. Odin was literally hanging on the edge of his seat, and mumbling, **_"No, Thor, NO!"_**

 

At the next counterturn, Loki switched tables on Thor. It was his turn to lean forward, pushing Thor backward with his right hand while wagging his left index finger.

 

That near kiss, unfortunately, proved to be too much for Odin. It was Odin's turn to be the recipient of a frantic foam finger fanning from the synchronized skating girls.

 

Frigga rolled her eyes contemptuously. "Sheesh! Haven't you ever seen two men kissing before?" Coach Ken almost jumped out of his seat when she yelled, **_"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, LOKI! LET THOR KISS YOU!!"_**

"Frigga, dear," the coach remarked dryly. "Too much fangirling may cause serious damage to your ovaries."

 

"My ovaries have already sunk in a hole in the floor! I want some satisfaction for my pains!"

 

When they finally reached the instrumental portion of the song, Thor gripped Loki's wrists tightly, his fingers loosening slightly the first few ties of the leather cord of the figure skater's vambraces. Seeing the sparkle in Thor's blue eyes, Loki knew instantly what the hockey player had in mind to perform. It was a dangerous maneuver which they had discussed in their childhood and which no had ever dared to achieve. Nodding, Loki shifted his grip so that Thor had a firm hold of his hands.

 

Loki released his left hand and let it fall stiffly to his side. Carefully, he slid lower and lower and lower in a precarious Death Spiral, his head but a mere couple of inches from the floor. Thor kept a firm stretch on the arm that he was holding, making sure that Loki's head and body did not hit the floor as he spun him around and around with his muscular body acting as the pivot. Then, Loki reached up with his right hand and Thor seized it as well, shifting his grip so that he was now holding on to the vambrace cords. With a loud grunt, he started spinning harder and faster so that Loki's entire body was flailing and twisting in open air. As the last notes of the instrumental section played, Thor hurled Loki into the air in front of him, the figure skater spinning like a flying drill. At that move, the audience jumped to their feet, terribly frightened that Loki might break his neck on the ice.

 

Thor, however, had recovered swiftly from his pivot position and was racing after Loki, pumping his legs with all his might. He caught Loki easily by his waist and legs, and carefully set the figure skater down in a Flying Camel. Truly, the applause and screams from the audience was thunderous.

 

Because he was still winded from the throw, Thor led Loki into easy spins and positions. But when they were nearing the end, Loki whispered, "Let's end this with a bang, Thor."

 

"As you wish," Thor replied, surreptitiously dipping into his vest pocket as Loki pulled away from him.

 

Skating backward, the hockey player gestured to the figure skater to come to him. And Loki obliged him. He took a few running steps and then skated fast and hard. Loki leaped high and Thor caught him by the waist, lifting him up over his head in a Swan Lift with body and legs arched upward and with both arms and legs spread out. Because of the momentum of Loki's jump, Thor allowed himself to glide backward a few feet before opening his legs in a spread eagle so that he was drawing a large spiral on the ice going inward. He then tossed Loki in the air in a Twist Lift. However, Loki adjusted his twist and turn so that he landed in Thor's grasp in a Star Lift, with his body nearly upside down, with Thor's right arm supporting him at the hip while the figure skater's right arm was propped on the hockey player's left shoulder. Loki's long legs were spread in a split scissor position. As Loki lowered his left arm as well, Thor gripped both of the figure skater's hands and vaulted him in the air for the last time, with Loki landing in a Hand To Hand Lasso Overhead Lift position above Thor's head—with his legs in a split, his right hand gripping Thor's near crotch level, while his left arm was stretched sideways.

 

As the song was slowly fading out, Loki twisted his body around and gracefully slithered down Thor's frame, with the hockey player's hands easing the figure skater's descent from legs, hips to waist. There was a moment when Loki paused, his hands pressed against Thor's chest. Then, right before everyone's eyes, he wrapped his arms around Thor's neck and kissed him fully on the lips.

 

The whole arena was quaking from the cheers, applause and screams of the audience. From the rafters, silver glitters fell down upon the two kissing men, who were oblivious to everything and everyone around them.

 

Only Frigga, who had been watching their performance closely with her trained eye, had seen the whole thing. With tears glimmering in her eyes, she had seen how Thor had slipped the emerald engagement ring onto Loki's finger, whispering in his ear at the same time, "Will you marry me?" The moment that Loki's hand was pressed to Thor's chest, he had been staring at the ring and then into his lover's eyes.

 

And, indeed, when he threw himself Thor's arms, his answer to that question was a tearful **_"YES!"_**


End file.
